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Topic: Its time for a contest! (Read 38359 times)

Cutting straight to the chase, we (that is, gs93 and I) want YOUR best Sonic DIY Zones and single levels, and this contest is going to dig out the 5 best (two act) zones and 4 best single levels that TSCers have to offer.

First, we'll need to go over the ground rules:

-You may submit up to three two-act Zones* and 2 Single Levels.-Your entries must be confirmed in this topic BEFORE 9 PM (GMT) on Tuesday 1st August.-Judging on entries will take place shortly after this time.-By confirming your entry/entries in here, you are obligated to NOT EDIT THEM IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM once a link has been posted to the .diy file in this topic. Doing so breaches the rules of this competition and voids all of your entries.

*The Acts must share some form of similarity, you wont score points for just tossing two levels together under the same name.

A note on judges:

There will be 3 judges. Confirmed judges thus far are mike89 and Rolken, 3rd potential judge will be asked whenever mike gets round to it >_>. Judges MUST be impartial and are nto allowed to submit entries of their own.

Lastly, the main idea here is to generate a 'Standard Level Set", consisting of the 5 best zones and 4 best single levels, to possibly become a game to compete in at TUSC when TSC4 surfaces in the (hopefully) near future. By submitting your levels here, you are acknowledging the fact that if it is a 'winner' of this contest you fully express your permission for it to be used as a submittable division (Assuming this draws in the interest it _should_ and it is given the go-ahead on becoming a bracket on TUSC).

Id just like to say to you all, good luck, have fun and most of all BE CREATIVE. Challenge whats been done for, since when did fan-made Sonic levels have to be near identical to exsisting levels in the first place?

Notice that the deadline is three weeks from now. A MegaUpload file is active for three weeks. Not having a method to deliver is not an excuse.

Check the Sonic DIY Fan Game topic in the General Sonic forum. Post a level there first, as there is a ratings thread inside. It's a FRIENDLY competition, so we'll give tips. Edit it, and when you're sure about its greatness, post it here.

If your level needs specific music, send it with the level. If you want music from Sonic 1/2/3/&K/CD (either version) or Chaotix for your level, PM me and include an e-mail address or MSN Messenger address. I have Sonic ScreenSaver and would be glad to send you copies of the retro music included with (give a day or two, I don't check PMs right away). Note that due to copyright issues (i.e. Michael Jackson rumors), I do not have the tunes to Carnival Night, Ice Cap, or Launch Base. But how would you use those? Also, the thread in General Sonic has some music. If two people ask for the same music, and both levels are contest winners, one may get a different music track.EDIT: And please don't wait until the last minute if you plan to PM me. I'm not answering 20 music requests on July 31st... matter of fact, I might be out of town that day.

We request that you submit a password, in the case that we need to rename your level because you're not creative in the least *shot*. Actually, it's beneficial for some to start under a working name and change it later. If you have some flash of inspiration, we can rename it, or even use the name to couple it with another person's level and make a zone. Simply re-naming the file won't work.

If your level starts at the left edge of the screen, make sure the ground touches the left edge. Press * to see the left edge, and * again to bring the menus back.

Aesthetics count. We want eye candy too.

Even though the help file discourages "badnik bopping" to secrets or spring jumps, they are actually very fun to play with. Just be sure not to place it over a pit, in case the player slips.

Don't put "act" or "zone" into the level name. It's just wasting time. If I said "Emerald Hill 1", you'd know I meant "Emerald Hill Zone Act 1". If your already have a level like that, it's no big deal. But, for future reference, remember the KISS rule: keep is simple, stupid.

Even though ARRPEEGEE and I started the contest, we're still entering, since we're not judging. So... get used to it.

Consider not submitting your level until the end of the contest. Admittedly or not, everyone is looking for the next great idea, and there's always a chance your level will give that inspiration. (you should still post that you wanna enter, though).

If you and another person make similar levels, consider asking the other person if you two could submit your levels together as one zone. We judge the levels, not the competitors.

Be careful witht the Marble Garden loop piece. It tends to be very glitchy, particularly in tight spaces.

There's no rule saying that each person can only win with one of their levels. If someone gets crazy-good with level design, all three zones and both single levels they submit (if that many) can win. Careful not to give your ideas away, you crazy-good people. I'm already kicking myself for submitting my personal best in the ratings topic.

Include a level description with your level, because if this game does make ARRPEEGEE's TUSC subsite (if that comes to be), there might be a manuals section. Plus, it gives judges an idea what to expect when they look at your level. Hype it up!

Lastly, have fun. Don't stare at the designer for three weeks, else your family might get worried.

Mimicking ARRPEEGEE's last sentence,

~gs93

« Last Edit: July 13, 2006, 01:55:58 PM by gs93 »

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<RPGnutter> Well I think your reasoning was dumb, so you get sassed<RPGnutter> Thats how it works

Hey, for all that don't know I'm the third judge because I've studied level design from a technical/programming standpoint, I'm not entering, and RPG asked. Just so's you know, I'll be awarding marks out of 10 for each of the following:

Aesthetics: if it looks good, it'll score here.Playability: if it plays nicely it'll score here. Tips include no horribly sneaky places to deliberately fool you, not finding it difficult to see where to go, no unobvious Pits Of Doom/infinite drops.Flow: we're time attackers, you know what this is. The level should play well, but you should also be able to blast through it satisfyingly quick. Flow is what makes a good level design great.Tilt: the level should have it's own unique feel. This is hard in a toolkit with pre-made level gimmicks, so I won't be marking harshly here at all.Bonus marks: anything that really turns my head will win points from this category. Suggestions are: multiple routes, clever use of gimmicks, humour.

So it'll be a mark out of 50 for each level from me. I'll give as much feedback as I can as well, and I promise I won't be too much of an ogre :D

« Last Edit: July 16, 2006, 10:05:54 AM by douglas »

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This topic has now been officially won by me. Never mind, you might do better next time!www.douglasgresham.co.uk - it's in the intarwebs, it must be true!

Although I put in the tips section that there should be a level description here, this one is a surprise for the judges. I know for a fact that this wouldn't make it to TUSC if and when that comes, but I needed to show off a bit. It requires an entirely different setup than the regular SonicDIY (so don't overwrite it!), and it only has one level for such a big download. But I totally think it wins in aesthetics, and in bonus marks. Playability suffers, but like I said, this wasn't made for TUSC.

I have some levels that can easily be copied somewhat, and those'll come later.

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<RPGnutter> Well I think your reasoning was dumb, so you get sassed<RPGnutter> Thats how it works

Um... by MAKING it? The Tileset1 folder is just 74 GIFs that can be altered at will. But you have to include your changed files with the level. I didn't want everyone making massive alterations because then we'd have umpteen different tilesets. Two is enough, trust me.

And the idea of "a surprise for the judges" involves not saying what it is until the deadline. Too late now...I appreciate that you like it, but I don't want it included with the other levels that all use a different tileset. If this game earns that much interest, then maybe people can use that tileset.

« Last Edit: July 16, 2006, 10:16:59 AM by gs93 »

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<RPGnutter> Well I think your reasoning was dumb, so you get sassed<RPGnutter> Thats how it works

A level constructed entirely by a group of TSCers, EG, if there was 10 people interested, we'd split the maximum number of tiles we want (2000 this example) and splti it between the number of players.

So like, 200 tiles each. Yeah, just brainstorming <_<

I would definitely be interested in a collab stage. I'm not sure if there's any point to it though besides mindless fun. What did you have in mind?

Just so you know though, my stage (PerilousJourney1) started to crash the editor at around 1760 tiles. I don't know if it's because I used almost all the graphics in the tileset, but it's definitely something to keep in mind.

And as you already know, I really dug Green Forest.

So what's going on here? Alternate tilesets available? Any new badniks/effects?

So what's going on here? Alternate tilesets available? Any new badniks/effects?

No, there aren't alt tilesets available. I built that from scratch, it's not just available somewhere on the web. My idea was to let the judges see some levels, then surprise them with different tiles (attempting to score higher marks). But since the cat's out of the bag now, it's kinda pointless. If RPG gets to make TUSC as he and I've been planning, odds are we're not making another tileset because it'd be too confusing as to which levels go with what.

Hmm... now I need to think of something else totally mind-blowing to win... this could be tough.

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<RPGnutter> Well I think your reasoning was dumb, so you get sassed<RPGnutter> Thats how it works

I just tried it. Pretty cool. (thanks for the sample level) Too bad there aren't new backgrounds available. (like tech/city themed bg's) If there was, I'd insist on using it. I wonder if there's any way for us to input them.

Um... by MAKING it? The Tileset1 folder is just 74 GIFs that can be altered at will. But you have to include your changed files with the level. I didn't want everyone making massive alterations because then we'd have umpteen different tilesets. Two is enough, trust me.

Well SORRY! I didn't realise it was as trivial as um...Trivial Pursuit. That could completely alter everything I suppose. If I could just be not lazy enough to make a decent tileset by myself...not gonna happen unfortunatly.

^Whoa. I didn't wanna come off as mean. I was just a little miffed (well, more or less pissed) that I made "a surprise for the judges", only for two people to come by and say what it was well before the contest deadline.BTW, I have two more levels for entry, but I'm holding off placing a link until the contest nears a close.

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<RPGnutter> Well I think your reasoning was dumb, so you get sassed<RPGnutter> Thats how it works

Damn, the boards have been awfully quiet for the last couple of days...

Anyways, I suppose I'll submit my contest entries before my work schedule gets hectic and I forget all about this.

Mystic Forest Zone (zomg NiGHTS reference, why can't Naka acknowledge it?):http://www.megaupload.com/?d=986UAK5TPseudo-description for TUSC Manuals section:You never know what might be hiding in the tall grasses in these ancient woods. Out-of-control vines can make for major annoyances, or for useful highways. Climb giant tree turnks to see the forest canopy, or absorb the power of a giant ring to soar through the skies...until it wears off, that is.

In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, the music tracks included are from Ultrace's web site, www.ultrace.com/uost/nights. It costs nothing to download from his site, and he didn't actually MAKE the music, but I figured if I was gonna use his tracks I oughta give him credit. And speaking of credit, *places Thorn flag on Mystic Forest 2* emulate it and die *hires snipers and surrounds levels with them*.

Eight days and an hour left, people. Get off... erm, on your asses and prepare to submit your levels.

« Last Edit: August 02, 2006, 04:57:42 PM by Thorn »

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<RPGnutter> Well I think your reasoning was dumb, so you get sassed<RPGnutter> Thats how it works

I'm cramming to finish Perilous Journey 2. I was intending on making a single stage after that, and I may make it even if it's too late for the actual contest, but.. we'll see.

Well, seeing as it's up to the judges whether or not to allow late entries, and there's only been five or so submissions, odds are it's not too bad to be late. Just be sure to link us to somethingin this topic by the deadline (which changed from 9 PM tomorrow to today to the Midmight between the 1st and 2nd) so that the judges can get started on the judging.

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<RPGnutter> Well I think your reasoning was dumb, so you get sassed<RPGnutter> Thats how it works

(for each link, scroll down a little to where it says "You have selected 0X rusty ruin zone act X MP3. To begin downloading this file, click here.") Of course, it's recommended to copy and paste the music into the Music folder in Sonic DIY and rename it to something simple.

You can't use Super Sonic in my stages unless you beat both of them first.

...btw, I was almost gonna do a Mystic Forest zone, looks like someone had already beat me to it.